McDonald's: Can A Behemoth Lead in the AI Era?

In March 2017, the American fast food giant McDonald’s Corporation (McDonald's) launched an ambitious strategic plan, named the Velocity Growth Plan, with the intention of maintaining its dominance over competitors. As part of this strategy, McDonald’s wanted to retain its current customers, regain lost customers, and convert casual customers into more committed customers. To help accomplish these objectives, McDonald’s introduced delivery and mobile ordering services. The company also announced that it would remodel its stores, as part the Velocity Growth Plan. Two years later, in March 2019, McDonald’s acquired Dynamic Yield, a digital personalization platform that could be integrated into McDonald’s drive-through service, in-store kiosks, and mobile application. By early 2019, McDonald’s was the largest fast food company in the world, with approximately 37,855 restaurants across 120 countries, largely seen as the premiere fast food company in the industry. However, Dynamic Yield’s software provided McDonald’s with the ability to offer customers immediate recommendations, one-to-one messaging, and customer data management. How could McDonald’s best use Dynamic Yield to meet its ambitious growth objectives?

This case can be used in an undergraduate- or graduate-level course on marketing analytics, or digital marketing. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>assess a company’s major acquisition;</li><li>discuss the costs and benefits of incorporating technology into a business;</li><li>understand how technology can help a company develop a competitive advantage;</li><li>understand how technology can impact the 4Ps (product, price, promotion, place) of marketing; and</li><li>understand how the 4Ps can be linked together into one integrated marketing strategy.</li></ul>

• Artificial Intelligence
• technology
• personalization
• acquisition
• competitive advantage
• 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, Place)